Democrats Abroad members in Canberra are invited to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the US lunar landing by attending an exclusive screening by the US Embassy in Canberra of "Race to the Moon", introduced by former NASA astronaut James F Reilly.

Date:  Tuesday 14 July 2009

Time:  6pm (60 minutes)

Place:  National Library Theatre, Parkes Place, Canberra

RSVP:  by 13 July 2009

Contact Irene: 6214-5784 OR E-mail: canberra-pas@state.gov

July 21st marks the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the first steps on the moon!  In celebration of this defining moment, former NASA Astronaut James F. Reilly will introduce this screening of RACE to the MOON and offer his personal insights on NASA and space exploration.  A veteran of shuttle flights in 1998, 2001, and 2007, Reilly logged more than 853 hours in space, including 5 spacewalks totaling 31 hours and 10 minutes. While Reilly retired from NASA in May 2008, he remains active with the space program and can recall the night on Christmas Eve 1968, as one of the largest audiences in television history tuned in to the extraordinary sight of the live broadcast of the moon's surface as seen from Apollo 8. 

RACE to the MOON recounts the voyage of Apollo 8, the first manned space flight to leave the Earth's gravitational pull and orbit the moon.  The historic journey, which captivated people around the world, was a major step forward in the 1969 moon landing.  Apollo 8 astronauts had a mere four months to prepare for the risky lunar orbit, and catastrophic failure would have brought a halt to America's goal of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade.  The film includes interviews with Apollo 8 astronauts, their wives, mission control staff and journalists, while revealing the high-stakes space race of the late 1960s and how a bold decision by NASA administrators put a struggling Apollo program back on track and allowed America to reach the moon before the Soviets.  The film is approximately one hour and will be followed by Q&As.